Dubai to host world’s first Cinematic Innovation Summit

The Cinematic Innovation Summit is set to be the world’s first summit dedicated entirely to the future of cinematic innovation. Hosted by a unique collaboration between the Center for New Cinema (CNC), the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) and naseba, the summit will illuminate the economic value of cinematic technology for multiple sectors including telecom, video gaming, advertising, and even extending across industries like healthcare, defence, and oil exploration.

Taking place in Dubai on 8 - 9 December 2012, and featuring speakers from Hollywood and the tech sector, the Cinematic Innovation Summit will be the ultimate lead-in event to the ninth edition of the Dubai International Film Festival. DIFF Chairman Abdulhamid Juma commented “Today, more than ever before, cinema and the entire media ecosystem are being transformed by ground-breaking innovations in technology. Providing access to powerful new tools for storytelling is crucial to the achievement of our ultimate goal - enabling talent and films to find critical and commercial success. We are delighted to host the inaugural Cinematic Innovation Summit in association with our partners CNC and Naseba.The summit will be an annual event that furthers Dubai’s commitment to the development of cinema and the film industry.”

“Dubai continues to collaborate and enhance its relationship with the world of cinema, making it an ideal location for this summit,” said Nic Watson, MD Marketing at naseba. “Not only is Dubai a promising emerging market, but due to its unique geographic position, it is the best place to connect movie professionals with businesses from the East and West,” he added.

The Cinematic Innovation Summit will spotlight advances coming in cinematic technology in the next 10 - 20 years, including innovations driven by artificial intelligence and cognitive scienc, game-style interactivity, ultra-realistic 3D projections and 'augmented reality'. Each of these is expected to have wide applications beyond cinema.

CNC President John B. Davis said: “Innovations in cinematic technology are accelerating: many of today’s movies could not have been made a decade ago, and the same will be true a decade from now. This has major implications for cinema and for business. Attending this summit will provide valuable insights on what is to come and how companies and investors can benefit.”

The summit will convene a group of 200 executives from the world of film, games, technology, finance, and more. Speakers include Lauren Shuler Donner (producer of the X-Men film franchise), Alvy Ray Smith (Pixar co-founder), Dean DeBlois (writer/director of Oscar-nominated 'How to Train Your Dragon' 3D and 'Lilo & Stitch'), and actor Stephen Lang, best known for his role as Col. Miles Quaritch in Avatar.